Feds collect $15.5M in restitution, fines

San Diego  Criminals who were prosecuted in San Diego federal court paid up last year.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office collected $11.8 million in criminal actions in fiscal year 2013, plus $3.7 million in civil actions, authorities reported.

Another $12.7 million came from cases the San Diego office pursued jointly with other U.S. attorney’s offices around the country and the Department of Justice.

Much of the money is paid as restitution to crime victims who have suffered physical injury or financial loss, while fines and felony assessments are paid to victims’ assistance programs.

“Restitution to victims is justice in its simplest form,” U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in a statement last week.

One of the largest payouts stemmed from a fraud case involving Dr. Joel Bernstein, a La Jolla oncologist who bought unapproved foreign cancer drugs and charged it to Medicare. The U.S. Attorney’s Office recovered about $1.2 million in restitution and $500,000 in fines as part of the criminal case, as well as a $2.2 million settlement as part of a related civil case.

Federal prosecutors also collected nearly $12 million in asset forfeitures in the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. The proceeds are used to restore funds to crime victims, as well as for a variety of law enforcement purposes.